Thursday, 27 February 2014

Spring has officially arrived in Brighton & Hove and not because of the weather (although the sun is starting to come out!)...

May is the month for Festivals in Brighton and for me the first sign that Spring is here is when the festivals start launching their brochures and announcing programme details as this means we are officially on our way to May madness!

Earlier this week we attended the launch of the Brighton Festival and this year the Guest Artistic Director is the acclaimed choreographer Hofesh Schecter. Naturally this year's programme has a strong dance element including Hofesh Shecter's new piece Sun. I'll also be intrigued to see Nowhere and Everywhere at the Same Time No. 2 which is an installation by William Forsythe. It seems the piece features hundreds of pendulums in a timed sequence, therefore as you move through - without touching them - the visitor becomes a dancer. The programme is not all about dance though and other highlights include a new production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore at the Theatre Royal Brighton; Bring the Happy at Onca Gallery and The Old Market; and of course the ever-popular Children's Parade.

And in case you're wondering about the sheep, he is this years cover star...

May would be busy enough if it was just the Brighton Festival but there's so much more! Brighton Fringe will be back with a bang, and following on from the success of last year The Fringe will again be running for four weeks with over 700 events. The programme is now available online and I'm delighted to see that the Spiegeltent will be back again as well Fringe City, I'll need to take some time to really get to grips with all the craziness on offer but one show has already caught my eye - Lynn Ruth Miller at the Marlborough proving you are never too old for comedy!

HOUSE, the sister festival of Artists Open Houses, is the visual arts festival for the city and this year's lead artist has been confirmed as Yinka Shonibare whose new installation will explore the impacts of immigration on British culture. And finally the Great Escape has this week confirmed a second wave of artists taking part in the festival, including 2013 Mercury Prize nominee Jon Hopkins and Strokes’ guitarist gone solo Albert Hammond, Jr.

Oh and just before I go I have one last thing to share with you. During the launch for the Brighton Festival there was a Q&A with Hofesh Schcter and someone asked him why he likes Brighton & Hove. And I rather liked his reply, unfortunately I cannot remember it verbatim but to paraphrase...Brighton is a really vibrant city but it is also a place where you can find peace, a quiet spot away from everyone else whether that's by the sea or somewhere else.

Monday, 3 February 2014

Even for those of us who enjoy our jobs Monday's can be an effort, but not today! This lunchtime we popped over to Food for Friends to try their new Meze lunch.

Richard and I did have a quick look at the menu before the dish arrived but either because we were talking or we were just too lazy to read it properly we didn't really take it in. This meant that when the food arrived neither of us really knew what was what but when it all looks this good, who needs to know?

Choosing what to order can sometimes take a while as you um and ah over several options, but the meze lunch was ideal as we got to try bits of lots of different things. The other bonus was the amount as usually if I go to a restaurant for lunch I end up eating too much and feeling sleepy when I get back to the office. However, instead of one heavy meal we got to sample lots of little ones and it was lighter on the stomach. Ideal for a lunchtime treat.

This also meant that I had time for a pudding, before heading back to the office, hooray! As anyone who knows me will know I will always be drawn to the chocolate option on any dessert menu. There were a couple to choose from today, but the one that won me over was the rich chocolate truffle torte.

I discovered afterwards that the pudding is actually vegan! I've no idea how they managed that as it was very chocolatey, although surely if it's vegan it's good for you, isn't it? ;)

For more details on the Meze lunch go to: www.foodforfriends.com/meze-lunch. I should point out that as we were returning to work this afternoon we did not have the carafe of wine so if you have any non-drinkers in your party then we can heartily recommend the Ginger Zinger.